


the final act

by spritejin



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Angst, Death, End of the World, Established Relationship, Extinction, Flashbacks, I should be sleeping, Like me lol, M/M, Sad, Scientific, ambigious ending, but it’s vv vague, how tf do u tag, hyunjin just wants to live a little longer with seungmin, i did some research lol, i mean everyone dies lol, idek if it’s considered ambiguous, idk is it, it’s a late night mess i’m sorry, of humanity essentially, same with seungmin, world ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-29 17:19:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17207642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spritejin/pseuds/spritejin
Summary: the inevitable end just makes hyunjin want some more time.





	the final act

The sweltering heat used to be too much for Hyunjin to stay outside, but he’d gotten used to it over the past few years. Normally, the fans in his apartment would be turned on and kids would be running through fire hydrants. That was back when people didn’t care about having a lack of water, or severe droughts that wouldn’t be relieved—when people wouldn’t care about when the world would “end”. 

He sat on the steps that led from his porch to a little park where all the kids would play. Their parents didn’t let them out today, however. The metal that was used to build play structures was too hot for their small and soft hands that would surely get burnt. 

Twenty years ago, maybe, a bug would’ve landed on Hyunjin’s bare shoulder, but definitely not today. Humans weren’t the strongest creatures, but they were strong enough to out-live the extinction of flies, spiders, mosquitoes—just pesky little bugs in general. 

Hyunjin’s gotten used to the constant news playing over the radio. The same “humans are dying, we need to move to another planet!” was becoming sickening. Constantly hearing about what their species could’ve done better was irritating, in his opinion. The end was inevitable, and no matter how much humans couldn’t believe it, it was happening right in front of their eyes.

You could see it everywhere too. The beach that Seungmin and Hyunjin went to has shockingly low tides. It was terrifying. The sand was bare and there wasn’t a beach umbrella in sight there. People didn’t want to be reminded of what’s going to disappear soon, Hyunjin presumed.

Footsteps were heard behind the man. He turned to see his lover moving to sit next to him. Seungmin laid his head on Hyunjin’s shoulder, red hair tickling the elder’s sensitive neck.

“Can’t sleep?” Seungmin inquires, though he really needed no response. Nobody could tell what was day and night, so, essentially, their circadian rhythms were out of wack and there was no time when the cities would “sleep”. 

Cars were always moving (though they didn’t move much anymore), people still singing (though there wasn’t much to sing for), and people still cried (they understood why). Times had changed, and they’d changed too early.

Hyunjin hummed as he pulled Seungmin closer too him. The two stared at the yellowing grass and the empty dirt where they wanted to plant a garden. That was, of course, before they got the news that they needed to conserve all the water that they had. Because soon there won’t be any. 

Hyunjin ran a hand through Seungmin’s soft, red locks. His hair was a little greasy—Hyunjin won’t lie—but it still made the younger look ethereal. Hygiene was basically a myth at this point. Running water wasn’t available and they were all living off of bottled water from the convenience store. There were no more baths, or daily showers. Yeah, it was pretty nasty but that’s what they had to live with. 

The younger always complained about how he wanted his black hair back, but again, it was too much to ask for. Water must not be used for impractical purposes, the senators advised everyone. Seungmin complained, and complained, but it was all meaningless. He knew that there was no point in dyeing his hair back to its original color, but oh gosh how he begged. 

It’s the small things that were always taken for granted. Water, at the flick of a tap. Food, with a dollar out of your wallet. Happiness, at the top of a smile. Nobody found that where Hyunjin and Seungmin stayed. Nobody could find the pleasure in living if they were all going to disappear eventually.

Hyunjin snakes an arm around Seungmin’s waist as the latter’s hand trails up his chest to rest on his jaw. “I can feel your ribcage, Jinnie.”

“So can I, Minnie.” Hyunjin said with a pained smile. It’d been weeks—months, it felt like, since a proper meal in a proper home, on a proper planet, living a proper life. Nothing was “normal” anymore.

The faint sound of their television was in the background, playing some old Audrey Hepburn film. It was playing the newscast, but it was a little painful to watch all the presidents and prime ministers shake hands for the last time with lethargic smiles at the camera. There was almost always a melancholic mood whenever the media was present, and Hyunjin couldn’t blame them. They had every right to sadness.

Kids were becoming more unruly and abrasive, and the adults just seemed sadder and sadder, with eye bags deeper than the Mariana trench. People are still stuck in this paradox, but who wouldn’t be? Imagine waking up to the crackling radio with frantic reporters and scientists saying that humanity will be wiped out in just a little while. And that was when Hyunjin realized that a few years is so little time. 

How easy is it to comprehend that all of us. The barber, the cameraman, the teacher, the student, the queen, the actress, all of them. Now they understand that they’re all the same in the end. Men are equal to women. LGBTQ+ is as deserving as straight people. Your race shouldn’t matter. In the end, what are they? Humans. All of us are the same and have the same fate. 

Hyunjin and Seungmin remember when they first bought their house.

(“Hyunjinnie! Oh my gosh, it’s so beautiful!” Seungmin squealed, throwing his hand up where a little gold ring lay. Hyunjin smiled endearingly at his husband’s actions and opted to just watch him fanboy over the house.

The one thing that was a dead giveaway that the house was meant for them was the rooftop. It was a little space where you could fit two people and a small table. But at night, you could see the sunset so vividly—more vivid than Seungmin’s bright red hair.

The yellows melting into deep oranges with hues of love enticing its audiences. Seeing the way that Seungmin was watching it, Hyunjin just decided to buy it. 

There was no argument from the younger’s side, just many, many, kisses (not that Hyunjin was complaining).)

It seemed like just yesterday when they moved in with the ugly brown couch and tiny kitchen table. It also seemed like just yesterday when Hyunjin popped the question and put a ring on Seungmin’s finger, when Seungmin finally got the balls to ask the elder out, when their school days were spent skirting through the hallways with shy smiles on their faces. 

Time passed by and it passed by too fast.

Hyunjin found himself on the rooftop with Seungmin again. The two were locked in a tight embrace, not wanting to let go, because maybe, just maybe, it’ll be the last time that they’ll feel safe in each other’s arms. 

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” Seungmin said, staring out at the sunset.

“What’s weird?” Hyunjin responded.

“This—us.” He gestured, “Life, I guess. It came so early yet it’s disappearing so soon.”

Hyunjin bit his chapped lip. Seungmin had this way of making you question everything you knew. 

“You know, I used to never say goodbye to my parents when I was younger.” Seungmin chuckled, “I would always tell them that I’d see them later, and it never occurred to me that one day I won’t. Maybe that day is today.”

“Maybe.” Hyunjin muttered, burning his head into the crook of Seungmin’s neck, seeking some form of comfort. Though they were adults, the abstract concept of the extinction of humanity was always grappling to him. He wanted to rewind to when he was just a little boy that’d play on the swing sets. He wanted to feel like a naïve child once again, shielded from the horrors of the world. 

“This is our end, Jinnie. This is where our storybook ends.” Seungmin says, staring off into the distance, “I never got to slow dance with you in the middle of a shopping mall. I never got to take shots of alcohol, I never went to a college party—I never lived like I wanted to. When I say that, I guess I mean that I missed a lot of what could’ve happened, yet I didn’t do it. I miss the things I never did.”

Both of them just closed their eyes and stayed glued together. 

Then they heard it.

The screams of people, the cries of youth, the sign that the Mother Nature was taking her last breath and stepping down. The sign that the scratched record has stopped playing and that all the other CD’s are broken and lost and that there won’t be another story to tell. The sign that when mother’s read the story Goodnight Moon it’ll be the final goodnight before everyone’s going to be whisked away to dreamland for good. It’s the ending beats of the song and there’s a bow with a flourish of the hands, signifying that the musical is over. The sign that hell is finally coming and there’s nothing that humans can do to stop it. Everything will be gone, everything, and there’s nothing that people will be able to do to stop it.

The paradox will end in mere moments. For a single millisecond, people will finally understand and breathe their last breath, knowing that everyone else on this planet will be doing the same.

For one fleeting moment, Hyunjin see’s Seungmin’s eyes holding so much life in them, carrying the story of their love before it ends.

He holds the younger just a little tighter as the heat becomes truly unbearable, too much to stay outside—

and then it all ends.

**Author's Note:**

> this was a Trashy Mess i’m sorry lmao. but ty for reading and pls give me constructive criticism bc i need major help w writing. also if u have any q’s then leave em in the comments and i’ll answer them gladly. il y’all <33


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